He Wore His Best Tie but Forgot to Wear His Smile

Imagine getting all dressed up for your big presentation and then standing in front of the audience with a grumpy look or a frown on your face.

Would you win the audience? I suspect not.

Furthermore, image that people comment on your nice smile but you fail to use it as part of your presentation or in your speech. If your smile is an asset then use it.

Use Your Smile!

If you use a smile when you greet your audience then you immediately set the stage in a positive light and create a comfortable atmosphere. People relate well to a smile. Your body language and facial expressions can be used in the delivery of your message or to create an atmosphere that can enable more people to be more receptive to your message.

I am a Toastmaster and Toastmasters is an organization that focuses on the teaching of public speaking I recently helped teach a Toastmasters Speech Craft course at a local business. In attendance was a woman that had a fabulous smile. She captivated the audience at the beginning of her very first speech with that wonderful smile. All the Toastmasters in attendance commented on her great smile and how it enabled her to capture the attention of the audience and relate well to the audience. If you smile and mean it then the audience will know it.

Also, a smile conveys confidence. We think that someone with a frown on their face is having a bad day. We are left to guess what might be wrong. Why put these thoughts in the heads of the people we talk with or present to. The audience will be guessing about the wrong things.

What if you could get the audience to guess about how you know so much about your presentation topic or how did you learn to present so well or what a great experience you talked about and how they could get involved. If you put these thoughts into the minds of the people in the audience then you are connecting with them in a very positive way and perhaps persuasive way. Your smile can help you to do this.

You should even smile when you talk on the telephone. Do you think that no one will notice because they cannot see you? Actually the sound of your voice is different and more upbeat and positive when you speak with a smile. Therefore, even though people cannot see that you are smiling they will still get a more upbeat and positive message if you are indeed smiling while talking with them on the telephone than if you are not. This also goes for speaking on the Internet. Smile when you speak and I assure you people will notice.

I suggest that people will remember you more and more of what you said and have a more positive image of you if you wear a smile than if you have your best or jacket on. Do not underestimate the value of a nice smile to set the tone of the conversation, speech or presentation.

People like smiles and I say give them what they like. Don’t be like the man that wore his best tie and then forgot his smile. He may have thought that no one noticed but unfortunately for him they all did.

Gary Horsman is the President of Presentations That Talk. Presentations That Talk help people to place their presentations online and then provides the technology to enable voice narration to the presentation. For more information please visit http://www.presentationsthattalk.com.

Executive Search Presentations - Better Than a Resume

Image you are an executive seeking a new position and you could create a PowerPoint presentation about yourself and your accomplishments. Imagine further that you could voice narrated to this presentation using your own voice. You could add the appropriate level of emphasis and articulate your thoughts in a rehearsed and refined manner.

If you could do this then you would be playing to your strengths. Executives need to be able to use their presentation skills all the time. They must present to communicate. The must present to convince. They must present to the board or to their employees. Their voice is a well polished tool and their ability to use it is a strength that has been well developed. The ability to communicate is a matter of pride.

Today, an executive is expected to know how to use the powerful communication tools now available. Also, if an executive could distribute this well developed and perfectly presented presentation to all that needed or wanted to hear it then this executive would be fully leveraging their communication skills.

I now want to introduce you to a simple and straight-forward way to do this. The technology is called the PTT Presenter and it stands for Presentations That Talk. It starts with the creation of a PowerPoint Presentation which is then uploaded to a server and converted to streaming media. Then, by making a simple telephone call one may voice narrated to this presentation on a slide-by-slide basis.

Once the voice narration has been approved by the presenter (and multiple takes are allowed) a link to the presentation can be sent in an e-mail, or linked to from a website. It is a great way to distribute your presentation.

We All Do It but Who Does it Better?

This article is about “The hook”. Newspapers do it with headlines, Television and Radio do it with the “tease” and a movie “trailer” is all about getting you to watch the movie with short scenes and teasers. A book does it with its title and then continues to do it with chapter titles. An article must do it with its title such as the one I used above.

Right before a television show breaks for a commercial that will tell you what is coming up next. They want to tease you along or hook you.

Get Their Attention

When you start the communication process you must first of all get a person’s attention. This is absolutely critical. If you do not have the attention of the audience then it does not matter what you communicate.

What is the audience concerned about?

Let’s say you are addressing a group of your employees. You are concerned about a worrying trend that relates to a losing established clients and replacing them with new ones during a time of unexpected employee turnover. What is the audience concerned about? Getting new clients? Keeping established clients? Employee retention?

This is what you could hook them with:

“I want to talk to you about who will replace you in your current position.” . . .

This will hit the nail on the head. It can suggest that they are all expendable if they do not get the job done. It can be a perfect lead into the problem with employee retention. It can start off a conversation but succession planning – important to everyone. It can be a lead into a conversation about employee development and promotion. It will certainly get everyone’s attention.

Hooks Come in Different Shapes and Sizes

There are dramatic visual hooks. I once attended a seminar on corporate communications. The consultant (about 65 years old) let us all take a break and when we came back into the room he was on the floor at the front of the room – not moving – he appeared to be unconscious. We were all alarmed and rush to see what we could do. We had all gathered around him and we tried to get him to respond and could not. He then calmly opened his eyes and asked us to be seated. He then used this example to let us know that even when we are not communicating in the traditional sense we are still communicating. He illustrated that it is actually impossible to not communicate.

This visual hook was very effective.

A humorous hook can be used but use it with caution. I do not recommend telling a joke as a hook as you never know how it will go over. A joke about mothers-in-law may not go over well with females or older women or the Japanese who show great respect to their mothers-in-laws. If you can tell a funny story about yourself then this is better but be sure it relates well to the overall point that you are making.

I once attended a meeting where the president was going to start the process of selecting a new VP of Operations. Our VP of Operations was going to retire. The VP of Operations position was vital to our corporation. At the front to the room next to the lectern was a chair and in front of the chair was a pair of shoes. The President explained to us how the process to fill the shoes of the existing VP was going to commence and he explained the objectives and the process. We all paid attention and the hook was very effective.

I once stated a speech on the corporate Japan by using the Japanese saying “The nail that sticks up will be hit down”. When I got to the word “hit” I slammed my fist on the lectern. It was an immediate attention grabber and I went on to explain how a lack of creativity is a concern and weakness within Japanese corporations.

The Hook - A Statement or Object to Get Attention

Everyone uses hooks and they best ones are memorable indeed. I remember the consultant on the floor and the empty pair of shoes even though these hooks were delivered years ago.

To see how to bring your business communications online and with voice narration visit the website of PresentationsThatTalk.com.

30 Second Communications

How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds

We are all sales people. We are selling ourselves, our product or service our company or one of ideas all the time. As sales people it is vital to be able to make your point in concise terms and quickly. People judge an idea or a person on first impressions. Therefore, it only takes a few words for someone to form an impression. Often there is only time for a few words so they better be the right ones.

Why 30 Seconds?

People are busy. Strong business leaders and decision makers want to work with efficient people. People have short attention spans.

A 30-second message is an essential and basic business tool.

Think about radio and television advertisements. The basic unit is 30 seconds. They do it all the time. In news reporting the actual reporting on the event is only 30 seconds. The total time for the story will be no more than 1 minute and 30 seconds. There will be 30 seconds to set up the story, 30 seconds to make the point and 30 seconds to summarize. If the story itself cannot be compressed into 30 seconds it will not be used.

To be able to deliver your point in 30 seconds is essential and basic. You must master this to be successful.

Know Your Objective

Many people miss the opportunity to make their point simply because they do not know themselves what their objective is. Another problem is that people often have mixed objectives. Not being clear on your objective will lead to many missed or flubbed opportunities.

You must be clear on what you want to achieve.

In any situation where you want to achieve something be sure that you are clear on what you want to achieve. To be clear of your objective is the first step to making your point in 30 seconds.

You must be clear of your objective before opening your mouth or start writing.

Know Your Audience

The better you know your audience the better you will be at forming your 30 second point. If you do not know your audience then you can be significantly off the mark.

If you are vying for a promotion then who do you need to talk with? What are they like? What is important to them? Even if the interview will last far longer than 30 seconds you must be able to make your case for why it should be you in 30 seconds.

It may seem obvious but you have to communicate with the right person. This is the person that can give you what you want. Know as many facts about this person or the group as possible. Know what the audience wants from you so that you can relate strongly and identify with the audience.

Know Your Approach

The objective, audience and approach are linked together. If you clearly know your objective and know the audience then it is time to define the approach. How are you going to get there?

Let’s say that you are now in Boston and the objective is to get to LA. That statement is only a partial goal as it does not have the concept of time applied to it. If you are in Boston and need to be in LA the next day then you will have to fly. If you are in Boston and need to be in LA in 3 weeks then you have additional options.

Your approach will be determined by your objective and the audience.

Imagine you have purchased a product and now you are unsatisfied with it and the objective is to get your money back or an exchange. This is a clear objective. You must then determine who to talk to. The approach would be to state how much you respect the company and that you know that good companies, such as yours, stand behind their merchandise. This approach is simple and can be simply stated. It will also help you to stay focused.

As you think about your own 30 second message remember that it all boils down to three items.

Know what you want, know who can give it to you and know how to get it. These are the essential ingredients of every form of successful communication. A well defined 30 second message is essential to your success.

For online voice-narrated presentation support vist the website of PresentationsThatTalk.com